


BITCHCRAFT

by Jackieshalom02



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canonical Character Death, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Hawkins (Stranger Things), Implied/Referenced Suicide, Minor Character Death, Minor Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Minor Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Original Wiccan Characters, Protective Steve Harrington, Rival Relationship, Slow Burn, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackieshalom02/pseuds/Jackieshalom02
Summary: "I'm going to show them exactly what happens when witches don't burn."(Stranger Things)Steve Harrington x fem!ocSeason 1-?Slow Burn.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> INTRODUCTION

Blair Jones's grandmother was the resident nud-job of Hawkin's Indiana, every town had one, it wasn't exactly a secret. She was crude, drunk, and nasty, all wrapped into one chaotic mess of a person. The cherry on top of the cake was that she had claimed to be 'psychic' and read palms for a living in the comfort of her living room, dressed in exaggerated costumes with her third-eye tattoo's plain to see on the palms of her hands.

Blair, when she was younger, had hated the woman. The crazy old bat was the reason she was bullied, turned into a laughing stock for children like Steve Harrington and his friends to push around. It wasn't until she was fourteen, when her grandmother clasped her hands into her wrinkled ones and grinned, all sharp edges with feral eyes.

"I can feel the magic in you, my girl." She whispered, staring into her grand-daughters pale eyes. "Your anger, your hate. Channel it, Channel it and turn your pain into power."

And so, the next day she walked into school with her head held high, eyes feral and smile sharp. She walked right up to Steve Harringtion, who was making fun of a boy who had a camera clasped tight around his neck, and punched him right in the nose. She was given detention but it had been worth it, to see her grandmothers twinklinging eyes and hearing her cackling laugh, she had even made her first and only friend, a boy named Jonathan Byers, who had taken a picture of her bruised knuckles with a shaky 'thanks'.

Her grandmother may be crazy, but Blair would always remember the words she had spoken to her, in her moments of weakness. And she'd be damned if anyone tried to take them away from her.

○

☆

○

_**"WHAT A LITTLE BITCH."** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Crazy old bat."

**Blair Jones, in all honesty, was sick** **of** **her grandmother's shit.** Now before you go off thinking she was an asshole, she _knew_ that she should be _grateful_ that her grandmother took her in when her parents decided they weren't ready for a child, which Blair understood, really she did, her life would be a lot less stressful if she was still an egg in her mother's womb, but you'd have to remember _you_ didn't live with the old woman, and this was the fourth time _this_ _week_ that Blair had found her grandmother's dirty, hole-riddled sock in her _goddamn_ sandwich. 

What was worse was the fact it _wasn't_ the only one in there. 

Now, there were two options on how they got in there, one, the more _realistic_ option, was that her grandmother, while under the influence of the devils grape-juice, had once again mistaken the fridge for the washing machine. The other option, the one her grandmother _swore_ on her own life was true, was that a faè came in during the night and put them in her food _purposely_ , to cause mischief and arguments in the house, as that's what they fed off. 

One of these days, one of these days Blair was just going to pack her shit and leave. She'd read a book on how to survive in the wilderness once, she's sure she could make it, she could totally win a fight with a bear if it came down to it.

"If I find one more fucking piece of _your_ clothing in _my_ food, I'm throwing you into a nursing home." She hissed, rummaging through the fridge for something edible, so she wouldn't have to eat the disgusting shit at school, she swears up and down that she once saw their meatloaf _move._

"I've already told you, it was the f-"

"- _Yes,_ I know, it was the ' _fairies'_ , God, if I have to hear you say that one more time I'm going to hang myself _with_ your sock."

Blair really was going to end up in jail for man-slaughter at this point, how she survived this far she'd never know. She huffed a breath through her nose, temper flaring uncomfortably as she drummed her fingers against the table, shoulder twitching every so often, she needed to calm down. 

"Always so dramatic." Her grandmother mumbled, just as Blair screamed in frustration as the butter resting on the fridge shelf came tumbling down, hitting the girls foot and sending her into a cursing rage as she held onto it, hobbling around the kitchen all the while her grams watched, sipping her tea which no doubt had some form of alcohol in. 

"This is your fault." Blair snapped, pulling a seat out from under the oak wooded table and sitting on it, rubbing away the pain in her foot with a grimace. 

"Oh? And how'd you come to that conclusion?" The old woman hummed, twirling a greying curl between her weathered fingers, obviously not giving a crap about her granddaughters impending meltdown, she really did have to look into some type of anger management for the girl, the potions she was slipping into Blair's drinks obviously weren't working.

"You're kidding right?" 

Her answer was a obnoxious hum from the old bat as she poured herself a cup of coffee, mixing in a few shots of whiskey when she thought Blair wasn't looking. The young girl rolled her eyes, rubbing her forehead in frustration before reaching under the table to grab her black boots that she had kicked under there the night before, stuffing her feet inside them with a grunt before slouching back in her chair. 

"Jonathan coming to pick you up?" Grams questioned, quirking a brow as she glanced over her cup of steaming liquid to give Blair a look. She opened her mouth to reply, face once more souring only for a loud _honk_ to disturb the peace from outside, causing them both to flinch and her grandmother to swear as she almost dropped her coffee all over herself. 

"I'll take that as a yes." The old bat rolled her eyes, before looking over at the clock on the wall and gasping, she had a client coming any moment now, and she had to look the part. Blair watched as her grandmother began to pile on smoky makeup with a grimace, that couldn't be healthy for anyone's skin, never mind someone of her grams age. 

"Have a good day at school. And remember, if you're ever in danger, say this word, **_scutum._** " 

Blair rolled her eyes, miming along to the sentence that she had been told everytime she left the house for the past few months, even for something as little as a bottle of milk. The woman really was a nightmare, an honest to God, _nightmare._

"You better get going. Don't want you to be late to school now, do we?" She began to push her granddaughter out of the door, wig finally set in place and hands firm even in her old age. Blair protested loudly, trying to fight back only to be shoved out into the chilled air and for the door to be slammed into her face.

"Hey! You old bat, I need my bag!" 

She yelled, crouched down, with her red-painted lips peeking through the letter box, to make sure the deaf coot could hear her, ignoring Jonathan who was chuckling behind her inside the car at the unusual scene. Silence answered her, causing her flushed face to twist as she quickly stuck her arm through the letter box aggressively, wiggling it around while screaming profanities loudly. 

_Whoosh! Thump!_

Blair paused, before slowly turning to look beside her, where her bag and all its contents had been spilled over the floor, thrown out from the window above her. She raised her head and met her grandmothers mirth filled eyes and snarled. She scooped up her things, hands shaking with unbridled rage and marched over to Jonathan's rusty car, who, when seeing her expression, cooled his features, though his upturned lips and tearful eyes showed he'd seen the show. She slumped into the passenger seat before slamming the door, holding out her middle finger to the old bat as they drove off.

"Still going with on with the whole physic thing?" Jonathan asked softly, to which Blair buried her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream. "That woman needs _medicated_!" 

He laughed, shoulders hunched as she dragged her hands town her face, pulling at her bottom eyelids as she did so. "Apparantly, now we're _witches_ , y'know the whole broomsticks and warts, stealing children to mix into our cauldron, that shit. I'm hoping that's where I came from, so I'm not related to that crazy old _bitch_!"

The mousey-haired boy chuckled softly, reaching over to pat her knee with a gentle touch, everything the boy did was done sweetly, Blair truly doubted the boy could hurt a fly, nevermind a bully, though luckily for him, she had no such qualms. "She's not that bad Blair, she bought us our first drinks, remember?" 

"We were _fourteen_ Jonathan, she should of been buying us soda pops, not scotch." She deadpanned, it hasn't even been nice, the only reason they drank it was because they thought it was apple-juice, oh how _naive_ they omce were. 

"You love her really." 

"I do not. You should of heard what she was saying man, sprouting out nonsense, even more so than usual, oh and ' _if ever_ _I'm_ _in danger you shall say these magic words'."_

"Abracatabra?" Jonathan guessed, smile blown out wide across his face and amusement shining in his eyes, it was always funny, watching how annoyed Blair got with her grandmothers tall tales.

"Wha-no, scrotum or something. I'm telling you, when she's of age, going straight in a nursing home. They can deal with her shit." She grumbled, leather clad arms crossing tight over her chest as she looked out the window before frowning, twisting her head to look into the back. "Where's will?" 

Jonathan shot her a smirk, he figured it would of taken her longer to notice one of her 'babies' (in which he meant gaggle of children that followed her around like little ducklings) was missing. The group of boys looked up to Blair, ever since Jonathan told Will the story of how she punched a bully for him, who told Lucas, who told Mike, who then told Dustin, and suddenly their demands for a babysitter were high. 

"He got a lift from Mike's mom, they all tried piling in my car when they heard I was picking you up, though." 

Blair smiled to herself happily, what little shits they were. "If we hurry, we can beat them to the school, they'll be pissed if they find out I got a lift from you and _didn't_ try to see them." 

"Aren't you babysitting them tonight?" Jonathan questioned, shooting the girl a strange look though he was filled with a huge swell of relief. If Blair was looking after the boys, it meant that he could take an extra shift to help mom pay the bill's without feeling guilty at leaving Will alone in the house. 

"Yeah, but still." 

It was silent for a few moments, before Jonathan gave her an amused look out of the corner of his eye and smirked to himself. "So...who's your favourite?"

"What?! How can you say that? I don't have a favourite, I hate all four of them, **equally**." She snapped, crossing her arms with a huff and stubbornly staring off out of the window, refusing to admit to her blatant favouritism of the four children she'd taken under her metaphorical wing. It was silent for a few moments. 

"Its Lucas, isn't it?"

"...I can't help it, he's a snarky little bastard and I'd _die_ for him."  
________________________________________________

Sure enough, when Blair and Jonathan finally got to the school and stepped out of the car it was to a group of small but aggressive children, each with various expressions of displeasure, standing with their arms crossed and their feet tapping against the grass below them, giving the two what was known as they 'stink-eye' as they glared at them.

Blair sighed, she was going to get yelled at, she could already see it. 

"You're late." Dustin snapped, lips pursing into a pout and gesturing towards his watch with a scowl as Jonathan laughed as quietly as he could behind his hand. It was a sight to see, the great and powerful Blair Jones, being told off by a bunch of pre-schoolers, for God's sake, she even looked guilty. 

"I know, I'm sorry kiddo, traffic was _intense_."

"You got the goods?" Lucas said, stepping forward with his favourite bandanna tied tight across his wrist, it was dark red with specks of black and green stitched across the fabric. It had been a gift from Blair for his birthday two years ago, and he was never seen without it attached to some part of his body.

" _Don't_ phrase it like that you little bastard, makes it sound like I'm selling you drugs."

"DRUGS! WHY WOULD YOU BE SELLING DRUGS?!" He yelled, with a shit-eating grin as the others laughed behind him. Blair reacted, reaching forward to flick his ear aggressively, face twisted in a scowl though they could all see the mirth in her eyes as she stared at her boys gently.

"That's it. You're demoted. Will is my new favourite." Said boy grinned, puffing his small chest out as Dustin and Mike shouted their objections at not being chosen. Lucas didn't seem all that threatened, instead choosing to smile sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, running her hand through Wills bowl cut, ruffling it to try and make it look less neat before twisting her bag to the front of her body, reaching in and pulling out a few bags of candy treats with a sigh. She should really not be giving the children sugar at the time in the morning.

However, she didn't have to deal with them until 4 o'clock on the dot, so it sounded like a whole lot of ' _not her problem_ '.

Handing them over with a huff, she ruffled Will's hair one last time before sending them on their merry way. Ignoring their loud and over dramatic proclaims of thanks for the 'drugs'. They were spending way too much time with her, little assholes. Blair turn around and glared at Jonathan, who was leaning against his car and pretending to play with his Camera, even though she could hear his muffled laughter, as he hid his lower face in the collar of his jacket.

"You're about as useful as nipples on a man. Y'know that right?" She told him, though not unkindly while rolling her eyes fondly, giving him a light punch on the shoulder as he started to openly laugh at his only friend who hadn't left his side for all these years and wondering how he got so lucky to have someone like her in his life.

"Hanging round kids, Byers? Should we be worried?"

A voice called out, breaking the small moment nicely as Jonathan clammed up quickly, shoulders hunching in on themselves and the smile wiping off his face quickly as it came as he tried to make himself look as small as possible, tucking his chin to his chest, a defensive mechanism to a threat, quite reminiscent of a mouse.

Blair turned around, a fire in her eyes when she caught sight of Steve Harrington, brown hair slicked back, _well_ , as slicked back as that messy mop could get, with his cronies Carol and Tommy standing behind him, smirking as if he had just gave off the worlds biggest burn. God, could the three of them _get_ any more cliché, she thought with a well timed eye-roll.

"Its real sweet that you're concerned Harrington, but you don't have to worry, we ain't your dad." She said, leaning against Jonathan's car and ignoring his mutter of 'please don't start.' She'd been raring for a fight for a while now, it was the only way to get rid of the built up tension inside her body.

"What the hell are you on about Jones? Finally going as coo-coo as your Grams?" Steve mocked, but she could see a quick flash of fear in his deep brown eyes that passed as quickly as it came. She grinned, she had him on the ropes and he knew it.

"What? I'm just saying man, how old was his latest conquest again? Eighteen? Just turned right? Flirting a bit with the line I see. Naughty naughty."

Carol gasped, eyes lighting in mirth as she giggled behind her hand openly, only stopping when Tommy elbowed her while Steve glared at Blair as if she was the bane of his existence, and, ever since she broke his nose, she most definitely has been. Still staring at the soles of his shoes, Jonathan allowed himself to smile a small and meek grin.

"How the hell did you know that?" He hissed at the girl, looking around with anxious eyes as if someone was listening in, a threat to his popularity that he had tried so hard to keep. 'King Steve' Blair's ass, all she seen when she looking at him was a sheep in wolves clothing, and it was only a matter of time before the pack descends.

"Oh, you haven't heard? I'm psychic." She said, lifting her hands tauntingly and wiggling her fingers, a grin shifting over her features with mischief shining in her eyes. What she most **definitely** wasn't going to tell him was that his mother had been secretly going to her grams for a while now, and a few times Blair had just _happened'_ to be listening in.

"You really think you're Gods gift, don't you Jones?" He scoffed, reaching into his pocket to get out his lighter, already beginning to walk away from the girl with his 'friends' in tow.

"Nah, more like satan's _**curse**_."  
_________________________________________________

School had dragged on, boring and uneventful and half the time Blair had struggled to stay awake during her classes, only waking when Joathan aimed a well-timed kick to the back of her chair every once in a while to make sure she was still...well, _alive_. But as soon as the final bell of the day rang, she quickly collected her things, stuffing them into her bags as quickly as possible and ran for the exist, yelling a quick 'bye' to Jonathan over her shoulder and managing to jump over Carol's attempt at tripping her up.

She ran into the parking lot, panting for breath slightly but relieved to be working the tension out of her body, before she came to a stop in front of Hawkins middle-school, she squatted down, resting her forearms against her knees and trying to catch her breath quickly, before standing up, looking over the crowds of children streaming out for her little gaggle.

Luckily, they found her before she found them as Dustin almost pushed her over when her barrelled into her side, causing her to become more winded then she already was, but she wrapped an arm around his shoulders all the same.

"C'mon you little shits, I wanna get you home as quickly as possible so I can order pizza." She said, causing them all the cheer joyfully, talking to each other in excited conversation as she began their walk towards the Wheeler residence, the kids just behind her with Dustin still tucked into her side, trying to convince her to watch star wars with them for the fifth time this _month_ , and knowing he were going to get his own way when she sighed.

The small group had got there in a relatively fast pace, just in time for the Mike's parents to catch them at the door as they were leaving for their date night, saying there 'hellos' and 'goodbye' as Karen Wheeler handed her daughter Holly over to Blair, who began bounching the toddler against her hip the second she was in her arms as she giggled.

"I can't thank you enough for watching them again, you're all they ever talk about."

Mrs. Wheeler laughed with a small swell of jealousy, it was always 'when is Blair coming over to babysit?' And 'Blair makes the _best_ pancakes, mum. Even better then yours'. Even Holly had joined in, saying that her mother didn't read the stories the 'right way' like Blair did, something about the voices not being right, whatever **that** meant.

"It's no trouble at all Mrs. Wheeler, I'm happy to be of service." Blair grinned sickly sweet and voice forming a higher pitch as she looked up at the woman, fluttering her eyelashes innocently. Behind her, Lucas and Mike caught eyes and simultaneously rolled them, what a load of shit.

"Your money is already on the counter, honey. And you know where everything is by now I hope?" The older woman joked, already begining to be tagged away by a frantic Ted, who was muttering that they were going to be late and that he didn't want to miss the reservations for the chicke- lunch. He meant lunch.

"Of course Mrs. Wheeler, have a nice night!" She called over her shoulder, ushering the children in the house with one arm while holding Holly up with the other, pausing at the door to allow the youngest child to wave at her mother before shutting the door after them, turning to give the boys a mischievous grin as they all spun around to face her, awaiting her orders excitedly.

"Dustin, start grabbing the popcorn. Mike, find the tape y'all want to watch and put it in, Will pass me the phone and Lucas, start grabbing the drinks. We got a long night ahead of us boys." She shouted with a grin as the boys saluted her, trying to keep their faces straight before running off to do their respective orders as Blair turned to look down at Holly seriously, "And you, little miss-" she began, tickling her stomach as the toddler laughed, "go find which book you want me to read to you tonight."

Blair placed the wiggling toddler on the floor and laughed as the girl suddenly ran for the stairs, child-like giggles following her all the while as Blair sighed with a grin, it really was going to be a long night.

Will came up behind her, handing over the phone so she could call their parents and tell them the children were with her at Mike's, and that she'd send them all home at around eight, an usual occurrence it seemed, most of the times, the parents were expecting the call more than having their own actual children home.

She gave the boy a grin, reaching down to ruffle his hair like she always did, but the second she touched him, it was like all the life was suddenly sucked out of the room.

Flashes of something passed through her mind, hazy and disoriented as she stared unseeing into the corner, face blank and cold. Not hearing the children start to call her name in worry, not seeing their panic, unable to listen to their terrified cries and questions as she watched the events unfold before her very eyes as if they were her own.

_There was panting, terrified whimpers falling out of the mouth of_ _whoever_ _was running, they looked to be in some sort of woods, the trees, the ground underneath them, twigs snapping, leaves crunching and all that but it looked_ _**wrong** _ _. It looked dead, like everything around that space was decaying, painting the scene in greys and dark_ _hues_ _, lifeless and rotting and disgusting._

_A_ _screeching_ _of something terrible coming up behind them, terror, fear, horror. Knowing that it was going to get them, that there was nothing they could do to stop it. They continued to run,_ _getting_ _faster, getting desperate as the house finally came into sight, wait, that was Blair's house. Hope, hope swelling the moment they seen it. Blair would protect them, she would always protect them._

_But instead, that strange creature finally caught them, wrapping its_ _monstrous_ _claws_ _around their ankle and tugging them down into the shadows below._

 _Finally, Blair could see it more clearly, see it from someone_ _else's_ _eyes_ _but feeling a sickening_ _clench_ _in her gut as who it_ _was_ _became seen. Will's pale and dirty face stared up at her desperately, unseeing that she was actually there and instead staring at_ _her_ _house in front of him, just in reach as he_ _clawed_ _desperately at the ground, tears streaming down as he screamed._

_Blair_ _!_

_Blair_ _!_

_"_ **Blair!** "

She gasped, a deep heaving gasp as though she had come back from the dead, her chest heaving as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on the floor, body drenched in a cold sweat and shaking, crowded around by her kids who had tears streaming down their faces, while Holly openly bawled into Mike's shirt.

"W-what happened?" Blair asked, her voice creaky and raspy causing her to grab her neck in pain, feeling as though her tongue was sandpaper as well as the inside of her throat. Dustin, seeing her struggle, ran over to the kitchen to grab a class of water, his face pale and hands shaking before handing it to her gently as she gulped it down.

Then Lucas, Mike and Dustin started talking all at once, retelling their versions of events dramatically, hands flaring about as they yelled out questions and theories. Blair tried her hardest to listen to them all, standing and taking Holly into her arms, begining to rock her until she calmed, trying to answer the boys as best as she could before they were all silenced by Will's quiet voice.

"It was my fault." He mumbled, eyes still blurry with tears that he quickly rubbed away. Blair sat Holly down on her high chair, squatting down until she was eye level with her best friends brother and stared at him gently, wanting to touch him but slightly afraid of the consequences.

"It was no one's fault, squirt. I just fainted, its probably because I forgot to eat breakfast." She reassured him, glancing over at the boys with a stern look as they walked over to Will, Lucas wrapping his arm around the smallest members shoulder. "Are you sure?" He asked weakly.

"Course I'm sure. Now come on, everyone back to your stations, I think we deserve some double pepperoni after all that don't you?" She asked with a wide grin as they dispersed, though she couldn't help but notice they had all moved to where she should still be seen in their vision.

What little worry warts, she thought affectionately.

"I don't know Blair, maybe you're finally going as crazy as your grams." Lucas teased with a grin, as Blair pretended to aim a kick towards his back-side, causing him to laugh and run away covering the cargo, the strange events already forgotten after the talk of food it seemed, just as Will was about to walk into the living room, the teenager called after him.

"Wait, Will. Can you come back over here a moment?"

He strolled over worridly, still giving the girl a wide-berth and looking every bit like a kicked puppy, his dark brown eyes filled with sorrow as he looked up at her, bottom lip trembling. "It really was my fault wasn't it?"

"What? No Will, of course not. I was just wondering if you could do be a favour?"

"Yeah, anything." The boy replied, nodding his head eagerly, desperate to clear his guilty conscience even though he was not at fault.

"Don't go through mirkwood anymore, please." Blair said, and once more, it was like the air around them grew cold, the air becoming think with a certain tension, drowning out the noises from the messy boys around them. Whatever was happening, involved only the two of them.

"Why?" He asked quietly, hardly louder than a whisper, feeling as though the weight of the world had suddenly pressed down on his shoulders, the weight aching.

"I don't know, I-I just have a _really_ bad feeling about it." She took a deep breath, trying to resolve her nerves. It had taken her a few moments but she had recognised those woods Will had been running in, the once the boys had named 'mirkwood' like the hobbit her mind had supplied. She didn't know what that 'day-dream' was all about, as nothing like that had ever happened to her before, but the panic she felt, the fear, the _**terror.**_ She doubted she would ever forget it.

"Look, if you're ever going through there, even if you're on your bike and it's the middle of the day, just call me okay? I don't care what time it is or what day, call me and I'll come walk you home." Blair said, trying to compromise and quell her anxiety at the same time.

"You don't have to."

"I know, but I want _to_."  
_________________________________________________

In the end, Blair had called Jonathan to take the kids home, too exhausted to walk but terrified after the strange occurrence that had happened hours prior. However, that hadn't stopped the kids from having a fun night, she had made sure of it, even if her smile was slightly fake throughout the night. The children had each hugged her goodbye before climbing into Jonathan's car, waving until they were out of sight.

She had then picked up an half-dead Mike who was snoring so loudly, she was afraid he'd wake Holly up, and, with alot of difficulty aand some awkward fumbling, managed to carry him up the stairs and into bed. Just in time it seemed as Mr and Mrs Wheeler walked in, thanking her profusely before dismissing her from her duties.

Which lead Blair to now, walking home with cash in hand and feet trailing sluggishly behind her, eyelids dropping every once in a while before she tripped and forced them open. Allowing herself a drunken looking smile when she caught sight of her house.

She strolled it, swearing when she tripped over one of her grandmother's bottles hanging around by the door before slumping against the wall, fighting with her boots to try and get them off her aching feet and sighing in relief when the cold air finally washed over them.

Blair walked into the living room with a yawn, arms stretching over her head and moaning with satisfaction when her back and shoulders cracked, releasing their tension. She went to turn on the lights, before stopping in her tracks as she caught sight of her grams asleep on the couch, vodka bottle hanging loosely from her fingers causing the young girl to sigh, guess babysitting wasn't quite over yet.

"Grams, c'mon. You have to go to bed." She called, strolling over with a chuckle and pulling the bottle from the woman's cold and weak hand, causing Blair to frown, rolling her eyes as her grandmother didn't move a muscle, no doubt pretending she couldn't hear her.

"Hey, you old bat. Get up." Blair snapped, pushing her shoulder and freezing when grams followed the movement freely, like there was no strength in the woman's cold body.

"Grams?" She whispered, swallowing a lump that had suddenly risen inside her throat, staring at the woman's strangely pale and stiff face, panic started to rise inside her as she began to shake the woman aggressively.

" _Grams?'_ The young girl sobbed, finally realising that her grandmother wasn't moving, wasn't **breathing**. She started to scream, chest heaving and mouth opening as sobs spilled out of it, tears running down her face and snot out of her nose as she shouted at the woman, shouted at her to get up, to move, to _breathe_ but nothing happened.

Blair Jones was alone in this world once more. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Will's stuck in the dark."

**The funeral was on a friday. The day was already off to a bad start with its gloomy weather, the fog rolling over the grounds in an** **ominous** **shadow, filling the small crowd with unease as the rain poured down overhead.** Black umbrella's protected most as the few people who had shown up all huddled together, shielding themselves from the down pour as they listened to the priest in front of them, the body of Adeile Jones being lowered into her grave. 

Blair wasn't one of them. She stood away from the small crowd and just simply allowed the cold water to drop down her drenched hair and over he face, her lips tinged blue and hands shaking from where they were pushed into the pockets of her suit. The rain, at that moment in time, was a Godsend, because it was the only thing that made her feel as numb on the outside, as she was on the inside. 

She felt like she was having an out of body experience, like she was there but she wasn't, like this was all a strange dream and she'd wake up soon to her strange grandmother's warnings, but she wouldn't. Because the crazy old bat was dead and gone and Blair was alone, just like she'd always been. Her own parents didn't want her, and maybe her grandmother hated her so much she had to kill herself to get away. 

Closing her eyes in frustration, she fruitlesly pushed those thoughts aside, inside her pocket, she wrapped her shaking fingers around a black rose, thumbing the thorn for relief and after being given the nod from the priest, the young girl stalked forward and dropped it on the casket without any hesitation or a second glance, wanting this over with as quickly as possible, before walking back over to her spot. 

In the corner of her eye, she could see Joyce Byers looking at her worridly, hands wrapped tight around her son Jonathan's arm, both of them looking like they were physically forcing themselves not to move over to her, knowing from experience that if Blair was upset and you tried to comfort her, the only thing you'd get in return was cruel remarks and taunting jabs, and Blair _always_ went straight for the jugular.

She was just thankful that the funeral landed on a school day, she didn't know what she'd do if the boys were there, trying to comfort her in their own special ways. She only just managed to convince them _and_ their parents to not bother coming, that she wanted it to be small. But she didn't count of the rest of these...asshole showing up.

People who were just either desperate for gossip or trying to look good for showing up to the ' _crazy_ _hag_ ' that lived down the street.

The rest of the funeral passed by in a blur, her red-shot eyes barely moving and the second the priest left was when the few people there descended upon her, taking turns in granting her their condolences, taking about their 'fond' memories of Adeile, and how it 'would be so strange without her' and it just went on and on, seemingly never ending.

Luckily, Blair managed to bite her tongue for a time, smiling sympathetically, humming and murmuring when it seemed appropriate, but inside her coat, her hands were clenched into fists _so_ tightly, blood was beginning to swell where her short fingernails were digging into the skin of her palm. But it wasn't until Ms. Leveti came forward, did everything turn to shit.

The conversation had started pleasantly enough, saying how brave she was for organising the funeral herself, _yeah, because her parents who'd she'd hardly met were going to help_ , and how she was _so_ strong, the normal things, until the old bitch started talking about how close she and her grandmother were, and how, 'she didn't know _how_ she was going to live her life _without_ her _best-friend by her_ _side_ _'_ and something in Blair snapped, her eyes darkening in anger as she squared up against the older woman.

"No she wasn't your 'best-friend' you attention seeking hag, she fucking hated you and thought that you smelled of cat-piss. Which you do, by the way." She snapped at the woman, before turning around and addressing the rest of the crowd, seeing Jonathan trying to push through them to get to her and calm her down, but she didn't give a single _shit._

"Actually, she **hated** the goddamn lot of you, wanna know the reason why? Because you're all pieces of shit who couldn't **wait** to talk your shit about her **after** you got what you wanted!" Blair screamed at them, feeling Jonathan come up behind her, wrapping his gangly arms around her middle and began trying to pull her away, Joyce following after them, apologising profusely to the angry people.

But Blair still wasn't done.

"I'm going to tell you what she never did. Eat shit! Eat shit! Also eat shit! You can definitely eat shit! And guess what? Eat shit too!" She screamed, struggling out of Jonathan's arms to give them the finger, face twisted into a haunting scowl as Joyce began stuffing the girl into her car, Jonathan hopping in the backseat, helping to place the seatbelt over her as she continued to scream obscenities at the crowd through the glass window before Joyce climbed into the driver's seat and with one last, awkward smile, gunning it away from them.

"Well," Ms. Leveti began, watching as the car drove away with the teenager still screaming for the lot of them to 'go fuck themselves on a cactus'. "That went as well as to be expected."  
________________________________________________

A few hours later had Blair sitting on the curb outside of her house, looking out to the woods in front of her with a cigarette held loosely between two steady fingers, her bright yellow converses becoming dirty the longer the sat there, ass in the mud. At least it had stopped raining, or else she'd look _really_ depressing. She brought the cigarette to her mouth and took a drawl, holding it for a few moments before squashing it onto the ground, not moving or looking anywhere else but in front of her.

"Y'know that's littering right? I could fine you."

A gruff voice interrupted her peace, she rolled her head across her shoulders, and then looked up...and up some more to the rough face of the chief, his beige hat resting low on his forehead and hands braced on his hips as he looked down at her with a frown, behind him, his truck parked next to her driveway. She frowned at it, how long had that been there?

"Lucky for you, I'm in a forgiving mood." He told her, searching for a reaction but getting nothing so, with a deep groan, he plopped himself down next to her on the curb, close enough that he could be heard but far enough that she wouldn't be intimidated. He was a big guy, he knew it and so did everyone else, the last thing he wanted was for the kid to feel threatened.

"I, uh, heard about your grams. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry I keep having to hear the same thing. At least try and have some originality." She snapped back, reaching into her pocket to pull out another cigarette but unable to light it as her hands started to shake aggressively, anger hitting her full force in the chest and making her nerves jittery, causing her to yell in frustration and throw the lighter into the bushes with a huff.

"Look kid, I'm not good at the whole comforting thing but I'm trying here. I know it isn't easy to lose someone you love." The chief mumbled, lifting his lips into a grimace as he took his hat off, wincing at the cold air assaulting his ears, before pulling his own lighter out of his pocket, pressing the gas with ease and pushing it close to her face so she could light it.

"Shouldn't you be telling me smoking it bad, chief?" Blair asked, taking a draw with a quirked brow as Hopper turned it off and pulled it closer to him once more. "Yeah, well. It'd be hypocritical of me anyway." He said with a snort, pushing it back into his pocket and tapping it once to make sure it stayed.

It was silent for a few moments, the only noise coming from Blair's noticable inhales and exhales of spoke, and the occasional grunt or sigh from Hopper as he struggled to think of something to say to the grieving girl, who he'd known all her life due to her closeness with her dad, well, _dad_ was a term used loosely, the bastard left his kid the second he had the chance. "She was a...good woman."

"She was crazy, Batshit fucking crazy and the biggest bitch I've ever met." Blair said, somehow not unkindly as she rolled her water-filled eyes, chewing on the inside of her cheek to keep the sobs that desperately wanted to slip out of her mouth at bay. She didn't know why she had to be strong, there was hardly anyone around to see her, but the thought of breaking, of crying for her loss seemed despicable.

Hopper chuckled, picking at his hat for frayed edges, before placing it back onto his head with a gruff smile. "Yeah, but that's what was good about her. People in this town will sugarcoat everything, be nice to you face and an asshole behind your back but not your grams. If she didn't like you, she just wouldn't bother with you. Unless you were paying for her kindness. She might not of been a 'good' woman, but she was one hell of a one."

He stood up, dusting his pants of and give the girl a once over, hat falling over his eyes to hide the concern inside them. "You going to be alright on your own?"

"I'm the Blair bitch, Hopper. There's nothing that I can't handle." She told him as she watched him walk back over to his car, climbing in and tipping his hat towards her through the window in farewell, before he drove off, his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach the farther away he left her before he shook his head. _He was under no obligation to look after the kid. Non at all._

Still sitting in the pavement, Blair finished the last of her cigarette and with a final sigh, stood up from the ground, dusting herself off and ignoring the dirt that now stained her fingers as she walked over to the house she'd been avoiding stepping in, wishing now she'd taken Joyce on her offer of staying there that night as she opened the door, and the smell of old woman and scotch hit her full force.

The house was her grams. Bottles of perfume and alcohol alike decorating the shelves, old, greying books that she could never understand as they'd been written in _latin_ or at least some language close to it. Herbs, flowers, crushed...something and strange crystals filling drawers upon drawers all around the rooms. It was strange to be standing there, feeling like she wasn't alone but knowing she was.

Alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Blair's jaw tensed as she took in a shaky breath, before she grabbed a plastic bag that was laying on the bench and began to clear up the empty bottles littering the floor, wanting non of it inside her house anymore.

She walked from room to room, the bag and her heart getting heavier and heavier the more she grabbed. Wondering how the woman's drinking problem hadn't been taken more seriously, by her or by any others, wondering how they'd all allowed it and simply labelled her the 'town drunk' and it wasn't until she walked into the old bat's room did the dam break, and she felt hot tears begin to slip down her trembling cheeks as she dropped the bag onto the floor and sat on Adelie's grey mattress, sobbing into her hands.

Alone. Alone. Alone.

It took her a few minutes to calm down again, her hands trembling, before she remembered her grandmother's secret stash of cigarettes in the top drawer by her beside. She quickly sat up, reaching across the bed to open it and began to rummage through it, until something peaking out from the corner caught her attention.

Blair's brows furrowed, tilting her head to the side as she moved the bottom of the drawer, and her jaw dropped as it slid open. It was a fucking secret compartment. It didn't exactly have alot inside it, a few rolled up hundred dollar bills, a strange looking amulet and some more green looking herbs that she prayed to whoever was listening that it _wasn't_ marijuana, and on top of all that, a single, white envelope, with her name written in her grandmothers handwriting on it.

The young girl hesitated for a moment, licking her suddenly dry lips, before she picked it up with gentle fingers, twisting it back and forwards in her palm, and then, with a shaky exhale opened it as softly as she could, and holding her breath.

_ Dear Blair.  _

_If you're reading this,_ _I'm_ _probably no longer roaming the earth with my physical body. If_ _I_ _am still alive_ _however_ _, get the hell out of my room and save this letter until_ _I'm_ _actually_ _dead_ _. I don't want to write this stupid thing again._

_As you probably know by now, all of my earthly possessions belong to you. The house, the money I've saved from my so_ _called_ 'scams' over the _years and most importantly, my books. I know that you've never believed me, never believed that there is magic in the world and_ _I_ _have long since accepted that, but_ _I_ _am begging you with every fiber of my undead being that you_ _ **do not throw those books away.**_ _For one day very soon, they could save your life, if only you allow yourself to read them._

_I'm_ _sorry I've left you._ _I'm_ _sorry_ _I_ _wasn't a better role model, and I'm sorry_ _I_ _couldn't teach you about certain things that you'll have to teach yourself. I've seen what life has in store for you my young_ _granddaughter_ _, I've seen loss and power and overwhelming strength, the likes of which_ _I_ _could never hope to grasp and it all comes from you. I see a_ _sister_ _, not in blood but in the only thing that matters, love. I see romance, grief, darkness and shadows. I've seen_ _everything_ _you'll have to go_ _through_ _and I'm proud of what comes out._

_I love you, my_ _darling_ _Blair. And I know, I know that you'll do what you were always meant to do,_ _**that you'll show the world what happens when witches don't burn** _ _!_

_ Sincerely _ _ , Adelie Jones.  _

She read through the letter again, again and again as the words swirled around her brain, going faster and faster and faster everytime she re-read the same lines, hoping beyond hope that it would start making sense but it didn't, nothing about it or that woman ever made _any_ sense and without a moment hesitation she clenched her eyes shut and began to tear the letter apart, broken sobs slipping through her trembling lips once more as she curled into a ball, heaving and aching. Crazy old bat. Crazy old _dead_ bat. 

Behind Blair, the bedroom window behind her **cracked.**  
_________________________________________________

Two days later on the sunday night, inside a dark but cozy looking basement, the kids, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin were playing dungeons and dragons, ignoring the empty couch opposite them that would usually be filled with the unhelpful Blair, who'd yell out random guesses and moves while having no real idea what the hell was going on. But now the silence had never been so deafening now that she wasn't there.

However good nights had to come to an end as Karen Wheeler broke the party up, the four of them forming outside, well, the three of them at first when Dustin had wandered up the stairs to offer Nancy the slice of pizza he usually saved for Blair, only to have the door slammed in his face. He pouted for a moment, before shrugging and leaving, dumping the box on top of the bin as he strolled outside, joining the others. "There's something wrong with your sister."

"What are you talking about?" Mike said, pale face crunching up as his friend walked past him nonchalantly, still sour that the campaign had ended just while it was getting good.

"She's got a stick up her butt." Dustin replied matter-of-factly, almost sounding bored. "Yeah. It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington." Lucas said with a shrug, throwing his leg over his bike and rolling himself closer to the others, the brights colours of his bandana flashing in the light.

"Yep, she's turning into a real jerk." Dustin sighed, as Will and Lucas came up beside him, each turning the lights on that rested between the handlebars of their bikes, baring its white glow through the darkness as Mike rolled his eyes behind them, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's always been a real jerk.

"Nuh-uh, she used to be cool."

"Wait, guys what time is it?" Will asked, finally noticing just how dark it was outside, his brown eyes blown wide as he looked down around for any sign of a clock. Mike frowned, glancing at his wrist before looking back over to his friend confused, "Its like, nine. Why?"

Will cursed softly, tightening his grip around his handlebars in dismay. "I promised my mom I'd be home for ten!"

"So? Just cut through Mirkwood. It'll take you twenty minutes, tops." Mike suggested, sending a confounded look over to Lucas who shrugged in responce. "I..I can't." Will murmured quietly, scuffing his shoe against the pavement and staring at his laces worridly.

"Why not?"

"I promised Blair I wouldn't, not without calling her first."

"Will, Blair needs some space remember? Look just go through Mirkwood, nothing's going to happen she was probably just pulling your leg. You know how she is." Lucas said seriously, not wanting anyone to bother the grieving girl, as soon as she pulled herself back together, the sooner she'd be back watching star wars with them. They just had to be patient and wait for a few more days.

"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right." The brown-eyed boy nodded, smiling at them nervously, Lucas and Dustin exchanged looks over the smaller boys head, before beginning to ride away, pushing themselves to the road in front, calling a quick "Later." Over their shoulders.

Mike rolled his eyes, watching them peddle away from his home, just as Will hesitated and then moved his bike so he was standing next to him. "It was a seven."

"Huh?"

"The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See you tomorrow." He smiled finally, and then pushed off, quickly catching up to his friends without so much as another look behind him, not seeing the lights flicker ominously behind him. They biked past Lucas's house, who smirked at them turning into his driveway as he shouted snidely, "Good night, ladies." And ignoring Dustin's quick witted, "Kiss your mom 'night for me."

"Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic." He turned to Will, wiggling his brows up and now as they continued to peddle, swerving slightly when the side of his wheel hit a small rock. "Any comic?" Will asked, giving his friend a quick glance and then looking back out in front of him, his dark eyes shinging mischievously as the other boys confirmation, before he sat up straighter and speed ahead of the slower boy, pushing himself further and further away.

"Hey! Hey! I didn't say "go"! Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Will laughed over his shoulder as he passed the curly-haired boys house, excited to read his new comic as he continued to bike quickly, wanting to get home before his deadline. However, the further he he got away from the neighbourhood, the more...strange he felt, constantly looking over his shoulder, feeling as if something that he couldn't see was following behind him.

The young boy gulped softly, glancing to the left of him to the shadowy wood known as Mirkwood and whimpered, remembering Blair's ominous warning all those days ago, but quickly pushing it to the back of his mind, his shaking hands tightening around his handle bars anxiously. The light on his bike flickered gently, bringing the boys attention down to it, his brows furrowed as he flicked it, breathing a heavy sigh of relief when it stopped.

He looked up into the darkness, only to let out a strangled gasp as...something inhumane stood in the middle of the road, blocking his way with long, spindly arms hanging by its side. The bike underneath him veered oft to the side, forcing him down a small muddy hill and overturning causing the boy to yelp sharply, his breath coming out in terrified pants as he kneeled up, staring out into the rolling fogs before standing and _running as fast as he could._

_Blair was right._ _**Blair was right.** _

"Mom!" He screamed, running up on the porch and into his house, locking the door behind him with shaking fingers, frightened sobs spilling out of his trembling lips, ignoring the dog barking aggressively behind him. Will turned, rushing through the hall, looking in on the kitchen, around the living room, looking into room after room while yelling out frantic calls, praying that he'd be answered. "Mom? Jonathan? Mom?"

He whimpered, realising he was alone before sprinting over the the window, lifting the mat up and over his head and staring out into the blaring darkness, his heart in his throat and hands on the glass. _Please don't be there. Please don't be there._

But through the damp fog, standing under the dark branches it came into view, moving closer and closer towards the house, its snarling growl making the hair on his body stand on edge as he gasped, staggering away from the window, his heart kept beating so loudly he could hear it, drumming inside his ears. _It knew he was here._

Will grabbed the phone from the wall, holding it to his ear desperately as he dialled _91_ 1, but all he could hear from the other end was static. Damning and awful static. "Hello? Hello?" He begged into the receiver, hoping beyond hope he'd get a responce but there was nothing. He let out another heaving sob. The dog continued to bark, and Will, trembling from limb to limb peaked around the corner, seeing the figure moving across the front door, that awful, haunting growl following after.

_The lock unlocked._

The young boy bolted, the phone slipping from his grip uncaringly and knocking against the beige walls as he ran out through the kitchen, hearing the dog still barking behind him and hoping it had the sense to hide as he burst through the back door, rushing towards the small shed of his garden, brown eyes blown wide with fear and skin paler than the dead.

He slammed the shed door behind him, the wood splintering as he grabbed the shotgun from is holder on the wall, frantically beginning to load it with shaking hands. _Blair knew. How did Blair know._ Will straightened, pulling the safety off and pointing it at the door, keeping his eyes strained on it and frightened whimpers fell from his lips.

The same, snarling growl filled the air, but, Will realised with mounting horror, it wasn't coming from outside. He turned around, gun lowering at his side as he stared, haunted at the shadow growing and growing and _growing_ at the back of the shed. The light hanging above him glowing brighter and brighter and then turning off, he only got the chance to scream once before he was disappeared into thin air.

**Miles away, Blair Jones shot up from her bed, forehead drenched in sweat, her dark brows furrowed and eyes still closed, still in the steep of unconsciousness,** **uttering** **a single,** **ominous** **sentence** **. "Will's stuck in the dark."**


	4. Chapter 4

**The** **next** **morning, a beady eyed Blair awoke to the phone ringing loudly from downstairs, echoing around the silence of her home, causing** **her** **to groan tiredly, turning her head to the side and glaring over to her alarm clock to see the time, and cursing at how early it was.** The phone continued to ring for a few moments, until it finally came to a stop, the peaceful quiet filling the space, before it began it's annoying _screaming_ once more.

Blair swore, the strange dream that had haunted her last night being pushed to the back of her mind as she ripped herself away from her sheets, growling as the stubborn things wrapped tight around her sweaty body, forcing her to the floor as she crawled across it, jerking her limbs out one by one until she was free, the young girl then quickly hobbled down the stairs, cursing on each step, feeling like her very bones were jarring with every miniature jump as she finally hit the floor, hissing at the cold that assaulted her toes and ripped the phone from its holder, placing it by her ear.

"Hello? Blair Jones speaking." She yawned, rubbing her left eye until dark spots danced across her vision, leaning her shoulder against the beige wall behind her sluggishly, her brain still trying to catch up to her wide-awake body, her eyelids blinking themselves slowly, her eyeballs dry and feeling tight.

"Hey, its Joyce. I know this is a bit of a long shot, but is there any chance Will is there with you?" The older woman's frantic question washed over her, quick and nervous as she spat the words out, seemingly already knowing the answer but desperately hoping. Blair paused, body alert as the question registered finally, furrowing her brows in confusion as her eyes swept over her living room, as if expecting the boy to be there for some odd reason as a chill crept up her spine, before she shook her head.

"What? No, why?"

"Blair...I don't think Will came home last night." Joyce said, her shaking voice thick with emotion and sounding close to crying as she whimpered down the phone. Blair could idly hear movement through the phone, and had no doubt Jonathan was trying to comfort his mother as she shivered once more, turning her head to look around again, feeling as if someone was there, looking up at her but the house was empty, it was just herself and, apparantly, her inherited paranoia.

"Easy, _easy_ , Joyce. Have you called everyone? The wheelers? The Sinclair's?" She questioned, shaking her head, trying to push away the feeling that she wasn't alone as she moved to the banister, grabbing her ratty oversized denim jacket that was hanging over the wooden structure and quickly pushed her arm inside of it, maneuvering the phone so it was now resting against her shoulder as she struggled.

"They were the first ones I called! This isn't like him!"

"I know, Don't worry okay? I'm coming round now, we'll find him." The young girl soothed, finally managing to slip herself into her jacket, bending down and grabbing her dirty converses that she'd left at the bottom of the stairs and tried to stomp them on, not even reaching down to pull the ends of the back as she squished her foot in deeper, sighing in satisfaction as it was forced on.

"Oh, Blair honey, I'm so sorry to do this, the funeral was only a few days ago and-"

"Joyce, it's fine. Look, keeping calling around. Like, call anyone who you think might of seen him last night and start making notes. I'll be round in ten minutes, tops." She promised, before pushing the phone back into the receiver without even saying goodbye as she rushed out through the door, locking it without looking back behind her as the hair on her body stood on end, feeling like someone or something had just walked over her grave.

Blair then turned and paused, looking out into the woods in front of her, quickly realising that running there was going to take ages, and without further ado, jogged over to her grandmothers garage, that had really just been used for storage as the old bat could barely see nevermind drive a car. She pushed up the heavy door, wincing as is creaked and squealed unpleasantly, grating its assault on her sensitive ears, and pushed herself inside with some difficulty.

The young girl had barely been in there for a moment before the dust particles attacked, her eyes watering and nose tickling as she coughed into the crook of her arm, searching through the darkness for her old bike that she was, realistically, probably too tall to ride around on now, however it was going to get her to the Byers household faster than running there would.

"Aha!"

Spotting it out of the corner of her eye, she rushed over to it, pushing and kicking junk out of her way as she pulled the old thing off of its rack, her face twisting into a disgusted grimace when she noticed all the spider webs around it, brushing them away with her flapping sleeve, thought, not without gagging to herself quietly. Deeming it presentable, Blair tucked it under her arm and waded her way back though the mess, recognising it as more of her grandmothers strange belongings of Crystal's and books and herbs, shaking her head as she did so.

Seriously, the old bat was dead and was _still_ freaking her out with the whole _'witchy'_ business.

Out in the light, the bike managed to look worse. Rusty and bright pink with a fucking basket on the front of it, but, thankfully, the chain seemed to be in tact and it looked like it would hold her weight, as least for a while she thought to herself, throwing her leg over it only to wince as the seat dug uncomfortably into her crotch. Yeah, she was probably alot thinner the last time she rode this monstrosity too.

She pushed the thoughts aside, knowing there were more important matters at hand and rolled the bike down the path and, after making sure she had enough momentum, quickly placed her feet onto the peddles and began to ride, wobbling dangerously for a few moments before getting her bearings, lifting herself off of the seat halfway on her journey after one too many jabs in certain sensitive _areas._

Blair sped through the streets, becoming a dark pink and blue blur to wandering eyes that looked out their windows at the right times, not caring if she looked stupid as she took her own shortcut, rushing past trees and bushes that snagged at her clothing and legs if she got too close and finally, after what seemed like forever, came to a stop by the Byers porch, panting for breath and throwing the bike away from her before she jogged up the steps and knocked on the door, upon where she was immediately dragged inside by a frantic Joyce.

"I called everyone, no one has seen him since last night." The older woman said with no form of greeting, already on the move and throwing a coat over her shoulders, struggling with the sleeves, dark eyes constantly shifting from place to place and shaking with anxious energy.

"I'm going to the police station, and Jonathan has just left about five minutes ago, already driving around the streets in case...in case he's hurt somewhere."

Blair nodded her head, moving forward to help Joyce push her arm into her sleeve finally, before cupping the smaller woman shoulders slowly, as to not startle her and stilling her st the same time, forcing her to look at her concerned face.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Please stay here, just until one of us gets back in case he comes home. I just- we need someone here." Joyce whispered desperately, voice hoarse from the constant talking and shouting, tears brimming in her deep brown eyes, her mind constantly shifting from worse case scenarios to even more worse case scenarios, leaving her nerves jittery and on end as she struggled to catch her breath. Someone had to be here in case he came back.

"Okay, okay I've got this. Go to the station, I'll be here when you get back I promise." Blair swore, trying her hardest to comfort her, while pushing her own anxieties to the back of her head. Feeling an ominous sort of melancholy drift up behind her, clutching her in it's dark grasp as the name ' _mirkwood'_ circled over her head in a haunting loop that she frantically tried to ignore.

"Thankyou, thankyou so much." Joyce almost cried, squeezing the hands on her shoulder before letting them drop and running for the door, not even sparing a glance behind her as she slammed it shut abruptly, plunging Blair into darkness as she sucked in a shaky breath that sounded more like a sob then anything else. Her chest heaving and eyes stinging as she tried to steady her breathing through the silence of the room.

This really had been the _shittiest_ week of her life. Her eyes clenched shut, her face scrunched up in frustration and her shaking jaw so tense there was a huge possibility of a chipped tooth as she stood there in the hallway, as still as the furniture surrounding her, trying to keep herself from falling apart and focusing on the one thing that kept her going all through her life. Rage. Pure unbridled rage that infused her every move, every decision and every choice.

Something shockingly cold and wet pressed against her hand, bringing her out of her sombre, nudging her bruised knuckles, causing her to gasp and spin around on the tip of her toes only to see the Byers family dog, Chester, looking up at her, whining pathetically. She sighed in relief, wondering what she had been expecting and reached down to pat his head gently, comfortingly, his tail wagging slowly as if there were no real effort being put into it.

"C'mon, let's get you some food, huh?" Blair asked rhetorically, moving over to the kitchen as he followed after her, continuing to whine. She idly questioned if he was feeling the loss of Will too as she strolled in, back towards the door leading to the garden outside as she reached down towards a cabinet, until a sudden strong, urgent sense of terrifying and frightening _fear_ hit her full force in the chest, making her stumble back away with a sharp cry of, " **mom**!"

Chester began to bark at her, hackles raised and crouched into some form of threat, glaring at her with ferocious eyes as she gasped for breath, clutching the counter with shaking hands as her heart thundered against her rib cage, beating so fast she feared it would start to jump out of her skin like some sort of stupid cartoon, the dog barking not helping to calm her as her whole body _heaved_ with dry sobs.

"Hey!" She finally snapped over to him, voice breaking and matching his anger with her own as she stood straighter, gesturing towards the floor below them with her brow furrowed and set in a frown. "Sit."

He did so, but still continued to look at her with distrustful eyes, his hairy upper lip curled to show his yellowing teeth that came with old age, watching her cautiously as she crouched down in front of him, maintaining contact and holding her hand out towards him steadily.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I don't know what that was either."

It was silent for a few moments, the two doing nothing but staring the other down, before he stood up and walked towards her, and, as she waited with bated breath, began to nose her hand softly, huffing out a quiet whine in apology as Blair ran her free hand over the shaggy fur atop his head, sighing in relief. She looked back over her shoulder, towards the door behind her and narrowed her eyes.

She fed him quietly, glancing over at the clock that read 10;30 with red, blaring numbers, trying to calm both of their nerves by making no sudden movements, and when he finally finished his meal and slouched off towards the living room once more, did she go towards the door, feeling as if her feet where being pulled the floor, her sense of gravity disappearing and making her movements slow and sluggish like some sort of zombie. She hovered her hand over the door handle, the air around her feeling tense and still, like a rubber-band pulled too tight and she was just _waiting_ for the snap to happen.

Blair finally pushed down on the handle, and the door slowly swung open.

Outside, nothing _looked_ different per say, there was no signs of some horrendous struggle, no dramatic splatter of blood and gore or anything of the sort, nothing even looked out of place, but the longer she stood in the doorway, staring out into the shrouds of browning green in front of her, the more _wrong_ it felt, like, the image in front of her didn't belong there, like it was a mere figment of her imagination or alternate reality trying to trick her mind into believing it was real.

She took a step outside, and almost instantly her legs buckled underneath her, knocking together as she quickly lunged for the banister to the side, holding it desperately and muffling her sobs into the palm of her hand, feeling another burst of such prominent terror that if felt like her chest was going to cave in from the heaviness.

She'd never felt anything like this in her life, hell, these emotions didn't even feel like her own, so why were they there? Like a ghost haunting her, begging to be seen.

Blair swallowed, her shaking hands tensing into fists, nails biting into the raw skin of her palm until she punctured them through, small swells of blood forming around the indents as she focused on breathing in and out, grounding herself to the pain as she pulled herself up, her dark eyes flickering from place to place until they landed on the shed in front of her, and they stayed there, unable to be dragged away.

The young girl began to walk over to it, feet dragging across the soggy grass, squelching unpleasantly with every step she took, the mud making the task as difficult as it could, seemingly trying to pull her down with every move. She came to a stop just in front of the shed, eyes roaming across it and taking in the dark, splintering wood and damp, unstable looking structure critically. Unaware of the footsteps coming up behind her, coming closer and closer and closer-

"Blair?"

She was broken out of her trance when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder, gasping loudly and swinging her fist around in shock, and Jonathan was just able to dodge out of the way of the quick attack, taking in his friends wild eyes, heaving chest and bushy hair, reminding him very much of some sort of spooked cat, he almost expected her to start hissing.

"Jonathan? I thought you were out looking for Will?" She said absentmindnessly, a frown transforming her features, not apologising for the quick reflex as she looked back over to the shed behind her, shivering as a chill crept up her spine tauntingly, before looking back over to her friend, taking in the dark bags under his eyes and the hard set of his jaw as he stared at her in confusion. "I was, I've been out for almost two hours?"

"What? But I thought you just left?"

"Blair...I left at nine, its eleven o'clock now. How- how long have you been standing here?" Jonathan asked slowly, watching her in concern, looking over her shoulder at the shed but seeing nothing of interest, nothing to stare at in an almost hypnotic state until he'd be physically pulled out of it. Perhaps mom had been right, it _was_ too soon for Blair to be up and about.

"Like barely even a minute." Blair scoffed, walking around the boy, her face pulling into a frown the second it was out of view as she quickly jogged towards the home, hearing Jonathan following after her and keeping her frantic pace with ease as he drilled holes into the side of her head with his eyes. "I...don't think that's right."

"What? Jonathan I literally just came out here, that's impossible. Look, it doesn't matter, did you find anything?" The girl said, waving a hand through the air nonchalantly as she strolled into the kitchen, stubbornly avoiding looking over at the clock on the mantelpiece, easy to see from her spot between the doorway as she instead turned her gaze over to Jonathan.

"...No. No, I didn't. There's no sign of him anywhere."

His shoulders physically sagged, voice hoarse and tight, barely hanging on as he quickly forgot the previous conversation, slumping his body against the counter as he pressed his face into his hands, clutching at his mousy-brown strands of hair and _pulling._ "I should of been here. I should of been here waiting for him but I wasn't. What if something happened to him?"

"You can't think like that, man. Maybe he's just going solo-"

"Its Will, Blair! Will! When has he _ever_ done anything like this? He used to cry when he was a minute past curfew because he was scared mom was going to be upset. He wouldn't just sleep it rough for the fun of it. He's not you." Jonathan yelled, straightened from his slumped position as he gestured wildly through the air, slamming his fist against the table with tears gathering across his eyeline, all the while Blair watched him calmly, letting him push it all out.

"...I know...I'm scared too." She finally whispered, catching his eye and giving him a half-smile that didn't reach her dark eyes, causing Jonathan to sigh, rubbing his knuckles across his forehead as he opened his mouth to apologise. However, before he could, the front door suddenly slammed open and shut, and frantic footsteps echoed around the home. "Blair?"

"Mom?" Jonathan yelled back, alerting the older woman of their presence as she came into the kitchen, looking at the two occupants hopefully. "Did, did either of you-" They shook their heads apologetically, and Blair flinched when Joyce released a gasping sob, obviously on the edge as Jonathan quickly walked around the table to take her in his arms comfortingly, hushing her as she began to cry desperately.

"Where is he? Where is my boy?"

The next few hours were spent with Blair moving back and forth through the kitchen and dining room, making sure the two ate and drank as they worried themselves sick, ignoring her shaking hands as Joyce screamed down the phone once again, for the third time that day, begging for someone to listen to her, or give her any information about Will, until she'd eventually bit the bullet and called Lonnie, face twisted into a scowl.

However, that didn't seem to exactly be going well as Joyce suddenly screamed a startling, "bitch!" And slammed the phone against the receiver, chest heaving as she resisted the urge to continue whacking it against the wall until it broke into pieces. Somewhat aware that the two teens were watching her in horror from the living room as they drew posters up, but too mentally exhausted to care.

"Mom." Jonathan finally called over, not even blinking as she spun around to look at him, her small being radiating with frustrated anger and face flushed. "What?"

"You have to stay calm." He mumbled quietly, staring up at her earnestly as Blair popped her head over his shoulder to give the woman an encouraging thumbs up, trying her hardest to be supportive but feeling like she was failing miserably. "Try counting to ten!"

Joyce chuckled humorously, throwing her hands up into the air as she scoffed and picked the phone up once more, resting it against her shoulder as she muttered under her breath, voice breaking unpleasantly as she tried to keep the tears at bay. "Lonnie, some _teenager_ just hung up on me. Will is...Is missing. I don't know where he is. I need-I just need you to call me back, please, just- **Damn it!** _ **Damn it!**_ "

Blair flinched with every slam of the phone, wincing away as she rubbed her cheek opening her mouth to say something, _anything_ , before she paused as the sound of tires on gravely pavement circled round her ears, quickly jumping up to her feet and rushing to the window, just in time to see the chief's truck rolling up the home with two other cars flanking him.

"Uh, Joyce?"

"What?"

"Cops." Jonathan answered instead, standing up and able to see out of the window at the sun shined through, bright but thankfully not hindering his sight in the slightest as Blair slowly turned around and the two exchanged looks. Either this was really good, or really bad, and the knot forming in the pit of her stomach informed her that it was the latter.   
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"It was just lying there?" Joyce questioned frantically, waving her arms as the chief strolled over until he was standing in front of the small woman, not even sparing her a glance as he looked over to the officers and gestured for one of them to search the room to the side of him."Yeah. Cal?"

Hopper began to slowly walk forwards, stormy blue eyes roaming over the walls and floors, searching for any sign of a clue, thought not without his shadows in the form of a worried mother and her son, the both of them looking at him desperately for answers they were having to pull out of him, like blood from a fucking stone...actually, speaking of blood. " _Did_ it have any blood on it, or-"

"No, no, no, no, no...Phil?" He gestured towards a room on the left, looking completely at ease as he stalked through the hall and into the kitchen. Jonathan finally seemed to gather his voice, as he reached out and put a comforting hand on his mom's shoulder, brown eyes blow wide as he stared darkly at the mans back. "If you found the bike out there, why are you here?"

"Well, he had a key to the house, right?" Hopper asked gruffly, continuing on his way into the kitchen, eyes flickering from left to right as he strolled over to the side, ducking his large head to look out of the window for a few moments, hearing the boys affirmation as he straighted and rapped his knuckles against the metal of the sink below him, still not looking over to them. "So...maybe he came home."

"You think I didn't check my own house?" 

"I'm not saying that- wait, what are you doing here?" Hopper finally noticed the Jones girl that had tried to make herself scarce, resting the back of her elbows against the counter and glaring up at him and over to where the other officers had left frustratingly, sharp jaw clenched as she eyed him up and down suspiciously. " _I_ came to help, obviously."

"Shouldn't you be in school?" 

"Shouldn't _you_ be doing your job instead of questioning me about school?" Blair snapped back just as quickly with a hiss, crossing her arms over her chest and bristling at the almost parental tone the older man's voice had taken as he looked down at her, resting his hands onto his hips as he frowned roughly, eyes practically disappearing under those thick ass eyebrows. "Kid, _I am_ doing my job."

"Poorly. Will's _still_ missing and you're wasting your time here." She said with a roll of her eyes, standing up straight so she could face him properly, hip cocking out to the side in a imitation of his stance. Hopper somehow managed to frown at her harder, "Is that really the tone you're going to take with me?"

"How is any of this important? Huh? Blair is right! You should be out there looking for him!" Joyce finally yelled, looking between the two indignantly with her hands thrown into the air, voice breaking half way through her sentence as she struggled to hold back tears, chest feeling like it was about to cave in on itself as it heaved.

The chief cleared his throat, looking at her apologetically before something caught his eye, moving over to the back door where he stroked his thick fingers over a dent in the wooden wall behind it, no one aware of the way that Blair had shifted uncomfortably away from it. "Has, uh, has this always been here?" 

"What? I don't know. Probably. I mean, I have two boys. Look at this place." She gestured all around herself, to the rickety table that had stacks of paper underneath one of the legs to keep it steady, to the broken lamp on top of the cupboard, years upon years of dealing with clumsy kids and adults alike that messed things up around the house and eventually, she just stopped counting them up, it was easier that way anyway.

"You're not sure?" He asked softly, opening the door fully as she sighed, before the sound of the dog barking brought his attention over to the garden outside, his brow furrowing as he stepped closer towards it, once again, no one seeing the ways Blair's face twisted fearfully as she remained rooted to her spot by the counter. She could no nothing but watch as Hopper left out of sight with Joyce following, but the older woman quickly came back holding Chester by his collar ans pushing him into the house with a mutter, only to freeze when she caught sight of Blair's face.

"Honey? Are you alright? You look a little pale?" 

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I uh, just have a cold."

Eventually all three officers came back inside, spitting out some explanation and the further actions they were going to take before they all practically leaped inside their cars and drove off, leaving the two members of the Byers family staring after them in shock, until Joyce began sobbing into her sons arms once more, a gaping whole slowly but surely burning it's way through her chest. 

All the while Blair stood still in the kitchen and glared over at the shed outside, _Will's stuck in the dark_ , a whisper echoed over inside her mind, haunting and dark and familar, so much so that she was starting to fear its truth. _ **Will's stuck in the dark...and there's nothing you can do about**_ _ **it**_ _ **.**_  
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Blair was eventually sent home, when the sky had begun to show hints of night falling above it, the sun dipping to touch the horizon and Joyce and Jonathan both didn't want her walking, or the more accurate term, biking her way home in the darkness, especially with what was happening at the moment, and she'd reluctantly agreed, begging them to call her if they heard anything else, and smiling when the older woman brought her into a bone-crushing hug before sending her on her way.

However, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping tonight, her mind too busy inside her exhausted body, and instead cycled her way over to one of the stores in town, throwing her bike behind an alleyway and mot caring if someone stole the pile of just as she blinked sluggishly at the flashing lights hanging over the supermarket, wincing as the harsh brightness added on to her overpowering headache as she turned her gaze the the floor and strolled in, not stopping to grab a basket as she headed straight for the drinks aisle to look for a bottle of milk, she needed coffee, _alot_ of coffee if she wanted to get through the night _without_ soaking her pillow with her tears.

After what seemed like ages she finally found some, sighing in relief as she wrapped her fingers around the bottle, shaking it unnecessarily, it was something her grams had done whenever they went grocery shopping, never explaining why she'd do it, and lately, the young girl found herself doing it too.

However, as she began to turn around, she spotted Steve _fucking_ Harrington out of the corner of her eye, talking to Tommy with a grin stuck on their features as they chuckled amongst themselves cruelly, and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach, knowing, just _knowing_ that whatever they were talking about, had something to do with the Byers family. She narrowed her eyes and tried to walk past them, tried being the underlined word, only to stand to freeze as she overheard what was _actually_ being said.

"The Byers are so poor they probably sold him off or something, or maybe they ran out of food and had to improvise."

Steve snorted, grabbing two sodas from the freezer and handing one over to Tommy who laughed loudly, at if everything was one big joke. Blair tried to keep calm, really, she did, she even tried counting to ten like her old therapist had told her too, but the anger pumping through her veins made her see _nothing_ but **red.**

"You think this is funny, asshole? Seriously?" She snarled, spinning around on her heel to face them, fave twisted into a vicious scowl as she stared at the two in total disgust, hands shaking at they clenched by her side.

"Well if it isn't Blair bitch, c'mon, lighten up a little, this is the most exciting thing to happen in Hawkins since... _forever_!" Tommy exclaimed in surprise, and then rolling his eyes at the girl as they both recognised the dark look on her face, Steve moving to take a step back inconspicuously, remembering the last time she'd looked at him like that, he got a broken _nose_.

"A kid has gone missing you absolute dick-for-brains. Are you really that _thick_ in the head that you'd actually find this entertaining?" Blair seethed through gritted teeth, digging her nails into the skin of her palm for the second time that day, head pounding and heart racing as she tried to calm herself down, drowning in her own anger without any sign of a life preserver as the lights around her began to flicker ominously.

"Look Jones, it's not the serious, the kid probably got lost wandering in the woods somewhere." Steve replied uncomfortably, looking away to the side before turning back, an awkward guilt shining in his brown eyes as he processed the words being spat at him with a tense jaw, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone had noticed them.

"You're _fucking_ pathetic. Don't get me wrong, I knew you had the whole 'cliche bully that peaks during highschool' trope going on, but I didn't know you were _that_ much of a jackass to be making jokes about a _kid_ going fucking _missing_ and possibly getting hurt."

Blair could feel her cheeks flushing, and had no doubt a vein was throbbing across her forehead as she glared at the two boys in total horrified disgust. She didn't care how about how popular they were, or how rich or cool, she'd never needed a reason to drop them onto their asses, and she certainly wasn't going to start pussying out now.

"You're being ridiculous, nothing bad ever happens in Hawkins. Just because you're fucking his freak of an older brother doesn't mean you have to shove it down everyone's throat." Steve snapped, hands being shoved into his pockets as he took a step closer to her, staring down his nose as her, literally and figuratively, noting with some satisfaction that the girl barely even reached his _shoulder._

"Yeah? Well I think is really fucking suspicious that you find this so funny _and_ that you're so acting so nonchalant, really weird if you ask me." She said, tilting her head to the side and speaking louder so she was heard, watching as Steve ducked away from the attention awkwardly, glaring at her with rage-filled eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about, Jones?"

"Well I'm just saying, you have all the elements of a fucking psycho, don't you? It's all there."

She took a step towards him with a dangerous grin filling over her features, eyes set on him and _only_ him, Tommy standing away from the drama at the very back of her mind as she stalked closer, Steve found that Blair wore a smile like a loaded gun, full of threat and intent to harm, and there was no way you could ever dodge the bullets she'd spit out with malicious intent, her aim would always ring true.

"I mean, mummy and daddy don't love you enough, didn't show enough affection to you growing up and just threw some cash at you hoping it'd make you more bearable, which, spoiler it didn't, so instead of dealing with those abandonment issues in a healthy way, you just start killing people with actual, loving parents. It's a classic story, I read an book about it once and boy, aren't you a psychiatrists wet dream."

Blair purred, laughing when she noticed the way his jaw tensed and his eyes darkened, but before he could say anything or do anything, Tommy had finally moved forward from watching the argument like a tennis match and grabbed him by the shoulder, glaring down at the small girl with his face blooming in frustration.

"Fuck you, Jones."

"No thanks, I don't know what I'd catch. It must get awfully lonely in that big home, Harrington. Let's hope its your money and popularity that keep you warm at night!" Blair screamed at his retreating back, and it was at that very moment that the light hanging over her head splintered and rained down with minuscule glass shards, causing her to flinch, and fall to the floor in shock as everyone turned to look and gasp.

A worker that had been stocking the shelves quickly ran towards her the moment she'd dropped like a sack of potatoes, their eyes wide and horrified as they picked her up from the floor, the few shoppers in the store surrounding her, hurling questions and murmuring in confusion as she slowly turned to look up at the ceiling where the shattered bulb stared back at her. "Miss, are you alright?"

"No...Theres something really _**fucking**_ wrong with me." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer;  
> My personal headcannon is that Blair has undiagnosed IED (intermittent explosive disorder) which is why she gets those explosive bursts of anger which she can't control, and unfortunately, her way of grounding herself it digging her nails into the palm of her hand which is not healthy at all! But yes, everyone is aware of her 'anger issues' but they don't know how deep rooted into her they are. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I couldn't care less."

**Blair** **didn't sleep much that night, well, she didn't sleep at all in all honesty.** Instead she sat at her table in the kitchen, shaking hands with scarred palms holding over a cup of steaming coffee, and the moment it grew cold in her grip was the only time she'd move from her spot to refill it. She spent the night there, ignoring the weather twirling dangerously outside, staring at the phone on the wall with red-rimmed eyes, waiting for a call that never came until the sun came up, bathing the room in its warm glow.

The suffocating silence eventually got to much for her, and she stormed upstairs to quickly get changed, pulling her clothes on with trembling lips spitting out curses as she tried to steady her breathing. A kid going missing for a few hours was bad, a kid missing for more than 24 hours was so much _worse._

And with that thought echoing inside her mind with its vile touches, she went rushing back down the stairs, calling the Byers household, and tapping her foot against the floor awaiting an answer, but it seemed the moment she was put through, she was cut off. She blinked, brows furrowing in confusion and tried again, only for the exact same thing to happen, she tried again and again and _again_ before slamming the phone into the receiver.

"What the **fuck** is wrong with you." She snarled at the inanimate object, and then, upon realising how stupid she looked, turned away from it with a grimace, rubbing her forehead with her knuckles in frustration, jaw tense and hair messy from her fingers constantly running through it, making the thick strands puff up. Just as Blair was about to go back into the kitchen, a loud horn blaring rung out from outside, causing her to frown in confusion.

She quickly jogged over to the window and lifted the pale red curtain slowly, eyes just peaking out from under it suspiciously and was surprised to see Jonathan's car parked outside with the anxious boy drumming his fingers against the wheel. The young girl physically jerked backwards, before running over to the stairs where she yanked her converses on, not soaring another glance as the mud coating them and ran for the door, locking it behind her with a curse.

"Hey! I tried calling but there wasn't any-" She began, opening the car door to plonk her ass onto the passenger seat, but Jonathan had already interrupted her, his hazel eyes anxious and frantic. "-The phone broke last night, practically liquefied because of the storm. I came to uh, I came to tell you that I'm going over to Lonnies."

He paused for a moment, gauging her blank-faced reaction, and upon seeing nothing to help with his decision, continued on, alot more quiet and slower than he originally started. "The cops think Will... they think he might be there, or Lonnie might know something but I know my dad. He won't cooperate, or he'll just ignore them and it'll make a bigger mess than it is now."

It was silent after he'd finished talking, the only sound coming from the still running engine which filled Jonathan with anxiety, but he kept his mouth shut, waiting for his friend to tell him her thoughts on the matter.

Blair chewed on the inside of her cheek, dark brows furrowed with her hand hovering in the space between them, wanting to give the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder but the amount of caffeine running through her system made her second guess herself. She knew Jonathan didn't have the best relationship with his dad, mainly because he was a massive asshole, she remembered having sleepovers in her attic with the boy whenever the arguing got too much for him, while Will would usually be dropped of at Mikes.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked hesitantly, lowering her hand into her lap and playing with her fingers, just to give herself something to do as she sat there awkwardly, not knowing how to comfort him in the slightest but offering her support, even though she was scared if she met Lonnie face to face, she'd end up punching him in the throat.

Her grams always did say she was an emotionally constipated brat with a capability for great violence, and that was probably the only true thing that came out of her mouth.

"No. This is something I need to do for myself, look, can you just do me a favour and put some of these on the message board when you go in? I just- I know it's a long shot but-" He trailed off quietly, somewhat surprised that his friend had strangely kept her thoughts to herself as he looked down, and Blair finally noticed the papers held in his trembling hands, with a picture of Will right on the front, the ones they'd been working on before she left and felt her heart squeeze inside her chest.

"You don't even have to ask, Jonathan. I've got your back, whatever you need."

The dark-eyed girl reached over, plucking the papers out of his hands and transferred them into hers, holding onto them tightly as if she didn't, they'd float away. She smiled over at her friend gently, and for the sake of his sanity and her own, pretended she couldn't see the way his bottom lip trembled as he nodded his thanks towards her, placing his hands on wheel and tightening them until the skin around his knuckles shone white.

"Hey uh, I'll drop you off at school, it's the least I can do after everything-"

"I am not going to let you finish that sentence Byers, but, I will take you up on that offer because I'm too lazy to walk to school." Blair joked, placing the papers into her lap before stretching to the side to yank the seatbelt over her body securely, smiling when she heard Jonathan's weak snort of laughter as he reversed out of the driveway. "I'm um, going to search around the woods again later tonight. You can come if you want."

"A night out with you, alone in the woods where no one can hear me scream? This can go one of two ways Jonny boy, a really bad porno or murder."

"Or the unseen third option of us just looking for clues?"

"Spoil sport." The two continued to talk amongst themselves quietly, keeping their minds off the tragedies at had and trying desperately to ignore the growing hole in their hearts of missing people that meant the world to them.  
_________________________________________________

"Goodluck." Blair told Jonathan softy as he parked outside the school, his hands shaking as he gave her a jerky nod, throat feeling tight and unable to push his thanks out in words as she patted his shoulder softly and opened the door and climbed out. He only waited a moment before driving away, wanting far away from the accusing eyes as he possibly could, and she watched him go until she couldn't see his car anymore.

"Fuck my life." She then whispered, and then turn around and began to walk away towards the hell hole in front her, keeping her breath as steady as she could and feeling that certain kind of red hot _flush_ that warned her that no matter what happened today, she was already filled with rage with tensions pulled so tight it was only a matter of time before she snapped.

And sure enough, the moment she'd stepped inside the school, all she could focus on was the various voices of her fellow peers assaulting her ears, each and every one of them loud and grating, talking over the other in excited tones about the missing kid and wondering what happened, trading theories and jokes as if they didn't know Will, as if their younger siblings didn't go to school with him, as if they themselves didn't know his brother, or their parents knew his mom.

They just kept talking and talking and _talking._

Blair opened her eyes, not even aware she'd shut them to find herself standing in front of the message board numbly, missing poster in hand that had crinkled slight from her tense grip, and she allowed herself to release a shaky exhale to try and loosen her nerves. She then shook her head, and pulled out a pin from her pocket and pushed the piece of paper in, stubbornly trying to avoid looking at his picture but finding herself unable to, tears filling her eyes without her permission as she looked at his earnest face.

Fuck Will, where are you?

However, she didn't have alot of time to think, or to cry, as the familar and frustrating voice of Steve fucking ' _bitchboy_ ' Harrington and his clonies echoed through the hall as they talked about her, obviously not expecting her to hear or perhaps not caring as they giggled to themselves mockingly.

"How much do you wanna' bet that Byers killed him and she's helping him cover it up? Bonnie and Clyde style." Tommy whispered conspicuously to Steve, who cringed slightly, both of them ignoring the disgusted look that Nancy gave him as she looked over at the obviously distraught girl, remembering how close she was with her brother and the rest of his friends and feeling a strange guilt swell in her stomach.

Blair tried to keep herself calm as she heard them mumble to themselves, teeth trembling and hands shaking, but all she wanted to do was storm over and break Harrington's nose... _again_ , and maybe even more than that. But she was interrupted from her thoughts of violence with the sight of Nancy Wheeler walking towards her nervously.

The two girls never really talked much, a half-hearted smile in the hallway, or a few conversations here and there when they'd bump into each other when Blair was leaving the Wheelers home and Nancy would just be coming in. They had no affection for each other, no friendship but they certainly didn't hate each other, but at that moment in time, all Blair could think about was knocking the girl out and _away_ from her.

"Hey."

Blair didn't answer, hoping the tense silence would be enough of a deterrent but when had she ever been that lucky?

"I, um, I just wanted to say that this- it really sucks. Can you, can you tell Jonathan everyones thinking about him?" Nancy said, wringing her small hands together and looking up at the taller girl from under her lashes, voice rather meek and small which really, shouldn't of gotten on Blair's nerves as much as it did, but for some odd reason, it **_really_** did.

"Thinking he's a serial killer you mean?"

"What? No, that- they were just kidding." Nancy defended them, gesturing behind her as the group of kids who were _still_ laughing and mumbling on, watching the two interact and the smaller girl didn't even try to hide her flinch as Blair glared down at her with a fake smile plastered onto her face. "Pretty disgusting thing to joke about."

"I didn't, I-"

Blair didn't even give her time to finish, turning around to look at her fully and feeling a certain satisfaction when Nancy took a step back, her doe like eyes wide with fear as she stalked just a bit closer, leaning over her with a mocking snarl. "No but you just stood there, didn't you? What? Pretty sheep can't think for herself?"

"That's not-"

"I _really_ couldn't care less, now I'm going to tell you politely to fuck off, because we both know you don't give a shit about anything other than what's it Harrington's pants, which by the way, you're probably going to be dissatisfied with. Theres a reason his hair is so big, its conpensating for something." Blair said, wrinkling her face up into a nasty grin, hands shaking and a vein throbbing in her forehead as she stalked past Nancy, leaving her standing in the hallway with trembling lips.

She stormed past Harrington and his lackies, glaring at them in disgust as she knocked his shoulder with hers roughly, walking through the halls with her nails digging into the palm of her hands and leaving welts in its wake as she felt the familar thurm of burning hot rage creep up into her veins, filling them up and up and **_up_** until she felt like she was about to burst at the seams.

But once again, she didn't have the luxury of being left in silence, or even have a chance to calm herself from the explosive rage bubbling inside her because she head thundering footsteps coming up behind her, echoing in the quiet of the halls just before a hand latched onto her upper arm and aggressively yanked her around to meet Steve's dark gaze.

"Hey! What the hell did _you_ say to her?" He snapped in agitation, brows furrowed into a frown as he obviously took offence to his future fuck toys hurt feelings, and Blair felt another swell of resentment because how the **_fuck_** did he have the audacity to be offended by _anything_ she had to say after the rumours he'd been spreading about Jonathan?

"Nothing untrue. Now _get_ your hands off me before I break much more than your fucking nose."

She quickly pulled her arm away from him aggressively, breath coming out in heavy gasps as an invisible pressure began to press down onto her chest, and she could only watch as his face twisted into an expression unfamiliar to her, his mouth opening and closing and hands hovering around her body but she couldn't hear a word of what he was saying.

All she could hear was the blood rushing to her head and her heart pounding rhythmically, getting faster and faster until she was scared it was going to rip itself from her chest, her vision blurring and she quickly ran, not caring that Harrington probably had the last word and just wanting to get as far away as possible before she turned a corner and slumped against the floor, anger boiling and blooming and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

There was an overwhelming ache in her head telling her to go apeshit, and no matter how **_hard_** she hit the sides of her head with shaking fists it wouldn't go away. She hit herself again, trying desperately to focus on the pain instead of the terrible and consuming rage because all she wanted to do was let it all out and _scream_.

Blair hit herself again, thumping her closed fist into the soft part of her temple, again and again until a headache formed and _that_ , that had been the relief she'd been waiting for as she finally was able to catch her breath, tears streaming down her face as she rested the back of her head against the wall, shoulders shrugging down as she breathed a dry sob of pained relief.

Grams was gone...Will was gone...strange things were happening that she couldn't explain and she had no one but herself to look after her and help her and no matter how much she tried not to focus on that, it wouldn't stop echoing inside her head. She just wanted her Grams, she _just_ wanted her fucking **_Grams_**.

The next few hours she spent in blissful and ignorant silence, going to her classes and roaming the halls like a ghost, ignoring the whispers echoing around her _and_ about her, talking about the missing kid, the crazy old town drunks death, the vicious bruising on the sides of her head that most _definitely_ hadn't been there that morning, which meant that the Blair bitch had **_another_** freaky episode. However, no one dared call her out to her face, because the thing was with Blair is that no matter how bad you could think you were, she was _worse._

And when the bell finally rang, she was one of the last ones out, taking in the settling sun with deadpan eyes and hardly an expression on her face, wanting nothing more to curl up in her bed and feel something other than fucking _numb._

"Blair!" She turned around, face shifting into a frown just in time to catch a body as they barrelled into hers, arms wrapping around her stomach tightly and almost sending her crashing down onto the ground below her. The young girl quickly gained her footing and looked down to a familar head of curly hair of Dustin, and felt her eyes close in frustration, for herself more than anyone else because she'd been so busy trying to look after Jonathan and herself, she'd managed to forget about the kids and how they were feeling.

"Shit Dustin, you want to mow me over you little bastard?" She said, plastering a fake smile onto her face that she knew didn't reach her eyes as she ran her fingers through his curls affectionately, causing him to look up at her with a goofy smile on his face, showcasing his gums. "Sorry. I've just missed you."

"Yeah, yeah I've missed you too."

"Dustin! We've got to go!"

Her eyes snapped over to the other side of the road where Lucas was walking towards them, his face moving into a shocked expression when he seen Blair, before shifting back into his anxious one, looking at the watch on his wrist then down the street, obviously in a rush to get somewhere as he hurried closer to them.

"Lucas? What, no 'hello' for me? And where's Mike?" Blair asked, looking around for any sign of the dark-haired boy, unaware of the looks the two present boys exchanged at her question, having a silent argument on if to tell her about the stranger in the woods before a quick decision was made as they both smiled up at her innocently.

"He's uh, he's _really_ sick!"

The young girl leaned down, and allowed her gaze to flicker from face to face watching as they visibly squirmed at the scrutinizing they were being given, knowing a lie when she seen one and after a moment, straightened her back, arms crossing over her chest and quirking a single dark brow as the glared at them. "Uhuh, okay how bout' we cut the bullshit yeah? You two are acting really suspicious, more so than usual."

Dustin threw his hands up into the air, giving Lucas a glare as if to say 'told you so' as he cursed loudly. "Shit, how does she always know!?"

Blair heard a car rumble behind her, and she spun around to find Jonathan's car parked in the car park, and her friend sitting in the drivers seat, nervously drumming his fingers against the steering wheel and sighed slowly, turning back around to give the two a look, dark eyes glistening with a strange emotion that they couldn't decipher.

"Look you little shits, I'm not going to be an ass and get up into your business and all that because it's not my style, but whatever you're doing, I need you to promise me one thing." She said ominously, watching as their eyes flickered towards the other before they nodded. "What?"

"That it's not dangerous."

Lucas stared up at the older girl who'd cared for them for years now, who'd bought them pizza out of her own money when she'd babysit them, who'd played whatever game they wanted to play and watch whatever movie they wanted to watch and all without complaint because she was their friend, no matter how hard she tried to play it off...and then he lied right to her face. "It's not dangerous, Blair. We promise."

"Okay, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'm definitely going around Mike's tomorrow to give him some soup because, well, y'know, he's so **_sick._** " She mocked slowly with a sly grin, watching as Dustin panicked but Lycas just smiled up at her sarcastically, calling her bluff like he always did as she began to make her way towards Jonathan. "Yeah right, bye Blair!"   
_________________________________________________

"Your dad is _such_ a dick."

"Yeah, I know."

"Like, he's just a great _big_ bag of **dicks**."

"You've said that already."

"Well I'm saying it again, I just wanna smash his stupid face into a wall."

"As long as it's not your own again, do what you want."

"Hey! Don't do that man, I can't control it." Blair snapped, pushing a tree branch out of her way with a frustrated huff as she stepped over a fallen log, rolling her eyes when she heard Jonathan mutter something else under his breath, her flashlight held tight in her cold and trembling hands, with the occasional shuttering click of his camera going off every couple of minutes assuring her he was still behind her.

They'd been out there for a few hours now, the sun already gone and taking it's natural light with it, leaving them in the ominous darkness surrounding them as they trekked through Hawkins woods, searching everywhere and anywhere, constantly moving around and looking for any kind of clue but coming up empty. Blair was really starting to miss her bed, hell, even her couch would do as she yawned quietly, but they'd finally made their pit stop at 'Mirkwood' to find any clues the police might of missed.

She was almost blinded by the bright light of the camera as Jonathan decided that there was something worth looking at right next to her fucking head, blinding her for a few moments as she staggered away, pressing the heel of her hands into her eyes with a curse.

"I'm sorry! Shit I'm sorry, are you ok-"

"Oh, you're definitely going to be sorry in a minute pal when I shove my foot up your a-" However, before she could spit the full threat out through gritted teeth, a scream suddenly interrupted her causing her to drop her flashlight, echoing around the thlrees and circling over their ears hauntingly, and Jonathan and Blair only wasted a second of looking at each other with wide eyes before they took of running towards the noise, adrenaline and fear coursing through their veins as the screams continued, getting louder and louder the closer they came.

But when they finally came to a stop, it was to Blair's worst **_nightmare._** They were at Steve fucking Harrington's home, where instead of some great and terrifying danger was running ramped, there was his cliche joking around the pool edge, laughing their annoying laughs and pretending to throw one another in, obviously drunk and disorderly because that's _just_ the type of assholes they were.

"Disgusting." Blair shuddered, leaning her forearm against the rough bark of the tree next to her and panting desperately for breath, chest heaving and a cold sweat working itself across her brow as she looked over at Jonathan who hadn't taken his eyes away from the party goers. "Is it bad I hope one of them _drown_ in that pool."

"What? Because they made you run?"

"No. Yes. Shut _up_."

They both watched for a few moments, looking at the mind-numbing group that had tried to make their lives hell for no other reason then popularity, and Blair felt her nose wrinkle against her face as she noticed that there were two new members of Harrington's cliche, Nancy Wheeler and Barb Holland, and only just resisted the roll of her eyes as she watched the shorter girl start chugging a beer.

"Y'know, she's a smart girl, and the sooner she realizes Harrington is a sham the better. All he cares about is his fucking hair and his popularity, she's never going to be a priority to that asshole." She murmured, and finally grew sick of watching them, going to grab her flashlight from her belt before remembering she'd dropped it, and then turning to Jonathan with a huff. "I'm going back to grab my flashlight, keep taking pictures around here and I'll meet you back at the car?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah sure." He mumbled, raising his camera to the small private party and taking a quick picture causing her to frown, not what she'd meant but alright, turning back around and walking the way she'd came, cursing every so often as she'd stumble over a stick or a rock, barely able to see her own hand in front of her stupid fucking face. Until finally, she found her flashlight on the floor, light dimming and brightening weirdly causing her to pause, a shiver creeping up her spine as she slowly picked it up.

Blair felt really tense all of a sudden, like she was being watched by something lurking in the shadows but, instead of giving into the fear inside of her that told her to curl up into a ball and beg for them to leave her alone she stood taller and glared out into the woods in front of her, upper lip curling into a snarl. "If you jump out at me, whoever you are I'm just warning you now that I am _**not**_ afraid to bite you. And I bite _hard._ "

But nothing answered her and, after a few tense moments, that stalking presence went away, and she was filled with the sense that she was alone once again, that is, until loud thundering footsteps came running up behind her and she spun around, squealed and _launched_ her flashlight right off the offenders head, hearing them hit the floor with a strangely familar grunt.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Jonathan? What the fuck man, why would you charge at me like that, you dick?" Blair snapped, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding as she caught sight of his mousey brown hair as he struggled to sit up, camera held tightly between his shaking hands that she didn't look twice at as she strolled over with a breathy sigh of relief.

"What- I didn't you freak." He hissed as she quickly helped him up, brushing the dirt from off his back with her face shifting into a guilty expression, pausing as she looked at _his_ face to see what would be a bruise already forming on his forehead leaving a bright red mark, before she paused and brought her face closer to his, narrowing her dark eyes in confusion. "Are- are you _blushing_?"

"W-what? Oh yeah, y'know all that running and stuff, c'mon anyway, it's getting late." Jonathan said, brushing off her concerns as he hurried to the car, not even waiting for her as she continued to look after him with a frown before she shrugged, picking her flashlight off of the floor and following after him, still a bit tense after everything but, knowing that things couldn't really get any worse.

...right? 


End file.
